Close attention to detail on Routes 208, 20 and 4 could make an impact on traffic policy

While driving past a cemetery in Clifton, motorists can’t help but notice the universal symbol of distress — an upside-down sign — in this case the shield displaying the numbers 4 & 6, which represent one of New Jersey’s oldest federal highways.

Inverted signs, missing signs and broken signs and street lights are nothing new in New Jersey. In this case, almost everybody who passes from Route 20 south to Route 46 east or west near Cedar Lawn Cemetery knows his way without turning a somersault to read a black-and-white road marker.

Overhead signs just ahead explain things well enough in bright white and green. Hardly any injury or damage is likely to result from something as innocuous as roadside sign inversion, right?

Probably. The state Department of Transportation has plenty of other priorities, right?

With the first winter storm of the season occurring Saturday, New Jersey’s road maintenance priority shifts from fall road-paving and tree-trimming to preparations for the next blizzard or two – or three.

Much of Route 46 could till use some maintenance, of course, but we can take some solace in the recent repaving of Route 4 from the Hudson River to the Fair Lawn border. Weather permitting, the balance of the highway was also set for an overhaul through Fair Lawn and Elmwood Park this weekend.

Route 208, too, now bears a fresh coat of asphalt from its junction with Route 4 to its link with Interstate 287.

These kinds of obvious improvements and several others are signs that this year’s 23-cent increase in New Jersey’s Transportation Trust Fund means the state is finally paying close attention to a distressed highway system that costs drivers an average $2,000 annually in extra vehicle repairs and maintenance, according to a 2016 report issued last year by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

But aren’t there other signs that have little to do with finance?

They’re real, tangible signs that people notice, often with a shrug and a sigh. Instead of focusing on dollars, these signs focus closely on attention to details, such as upside-down highway markers, missing directional signs, chronically out-of-service street lights, and something that engineers, cops, teachers and bureaucrats always emphasize – consistent adherence to the rules.

Rte. 208 mile-marker sign recently erected with incorrect shield suggesting it’s a U.S. highway, not a state highway.(Photo: John Cichowski/NorthJersey.com)

They can be as simple as the faulty mileage markers that caught Arnold Manche’s attention the other day as he made his way home on newly paved Route 208 in Fair Lawn.

“All the signs now have the U.S. highway shield rather than the New Jersey highway circle,” Arnold noted.

An 80-year-old tradition

Sure enough, the design on the sign is the shield that’s adorned U.S. highway signs like Routes 46 and 1&9 since 1927. But by federal law, state highways, such as 20, 4 and 208, must be enclosed in a circle. A big green and white sign on the highway that breaks down the cost of the repaving project correctly shows 208 in a circle, but for some reason the mile-marker signs that were part of the job have a shield around the highway number.

A DOT spokesman couldn’t explain the error, but acknowledged that it’s “manufacturing and installing new federally funded mile markers on New Jersey’s interstate highways and state roads.” Spokesman Dan Triana also couldn’t answer Arnold’s pointed question:

“Will the incorrect signs be left up or will taxpayers bear the expense of new signs and labor to remove them?”

Technically, states are responsible for maintaining both state and federal highways. They also pay for maintenance — often with combined funding from Congress and state legislatures, but many projects are solely state-funded. But for the sake of consistency, the USDOT’s Manual of Uniform Traffic Code Devices spells out the shape of all signs to be used in every state. (Legislature-approved speed limits, for example must display black lettering on a white background; cautionary speed limits devised by state or local officials must use black letters on a yellow backing.)

“States should post the correct sign on the correct highway so people know what kind of highway they’re driving on,” said highway historian Charles O’Reilly of Rutherford, “but I know of no penalty for not doing so. Some states frequently mix them up.”

So, the error is only cosmetic? What if a breach in rules is shown to cause road danger?

Blue lane dividers

Early this year, several towns honored their police by painting a blue line between double-yellow road lanes, which amounted to a breach of rules. Federal officials insisted the yellow paint posed a potential traffic hazard, but state and local officials, who usually insist on strict adherence to the rules, refused to back down.

A blue line painted between the double yellow lines to show support for police officers.(Photo: File)

Or that the sign on northbound Route 20 in Paterson that used to guide motorists smoothly from Route 80 to Route 4 will be re-installed quickly.

Or that the chronically dark street lights on westbound Route 4 near the George Washington Bridge will be fixed with military dispatch.

Or that all the vandalized lights on Route 19 in Paterson and Clifton will be replaced before the spring thaw.

Or that the erratic speed-limit sign at “tanker turn” where Route 95 north meets Route 80 west will suddenly stop shuddering hysterically.

These complaints have been pending from four years (Route 19) to 18 years (Route 4). Some are expensive (like lighting); some aren’t (a sign post). But none rival big-budget items like the Route 3 & 46 merge ($200 million) or the Route 495 reconstruction ($90 million).

In a few of these cases, with little more than a shovel and a shiny new sign, Trenton could turn some of this distress right-side-up.